August 07, 2012

9468 The Vampyre Castle

Here's a set that has colors I like, interesting pieces and some nice minifigs. It's the largest of the Monster Fightersets with 949 parts for 100 smackaroos. Bricklick says there are 27 extra parts in the set so that helps get that average closer to the dime a piece I like to see. There's a lot of bluish gray parts, 245 of the light blay and 303 of the dark blay, plus a nice mix of other colors in various small quantities. There are 62 of the dark blay 1x2 log pieces. That's a nice quantity in a single set but I'm not needing them much. I got a huge pile of them in the local LEGO store's Pick-A-Brick wall. There's a good number of blay slopes, various types including inverted, mixed in with a good assortment of other blay elements. On the light blay side there are 25 of the 1x2 brick bricks and 2 dozen of the 3x3x6 corner wall. The whole castle is built on octagonal 10x10 plates. There are 6 in the dark blay and one of those has an open center. You get 8 of those same octagonal plates, in dark tan, for the base of the castle. Below there's a back shot of the castle so you can see those tan plates in action. That selection of octagonal plates and wall panels makes a quick and easy way to build some tallish castle towers. Certainly more important for the younger set, who might get bored quicker, the idea appeals to me, who gets bored pretty quick. Once you get to that picture below, take a look at the top of the two tallest towers, see those 6x8x9 tower roof pieces. They look good in black. I love 'em in sand green but that's one of my favorite colors. Black is better in some applications, especially if you want to get all evil and the like. The builders use that 6x6 round corner slope in black to add some flare below the roof. The small tower uses plates and it just doesn't look as good. Some of the castle is pretty reminiscent of the recent Harry Potter sets.

As a play set it seems a good size with plenty of places to act out your monster fighting fantasies. Or you evil monster fantasies, if you like playing the blood sucking fiend instead. I like the few printed pieces in the set. The moon disc is kind of neat, the transparent jewel or rock pieces might come in handy, and that coffin is rather elegant. There are a nice bunch of accessories that the minifigs can use. There's a couple of glow in the dark critters, a rat and a spider. There's a pair of bats and a green frog. The spider is attached to a flick missile. I guess it's a jumping spider. I hate those. I'm not sure how much I like the sand green car. It's kind of goofy looking. I like that color and I'd take the pieces and use them for something else. All the vehicles in the MF sets are very weird looking to me. The car has a net tossing cannon on the back. I'm sure I've seen that idea used in another set but I can't remember what it is and I'm too lazy to figure out what it is. The castle seems to have a lot of the iconic bits that you'd expect to find in a castle that's home to a vampyre and his bitey bride. It's a good starting point for the newer builder and it might inspire them to make something better. You know, after they get 8 or 15 of these sets.

The vampyre has a plan to use his nefarious device to pull the moon so it blocks the sun and the world has continual darkness. Vampires, they're such assholes. I have to admit the nefarious device that the vampyre has at the top of the tallest tower doesn' t look that nefarious. It does have a pretty simple feature that turns the gem stones inward. That's the most interesting part for me. Here's a picture of the fiendish device in action from the LEGO website. They have a lot of right clickable images that you might want to save to your computer. You know who you are, those that need to.

If you are wondering how that simple bit of action is created you aren't alone. I had to go look at the instruction booklets that I downloaded off of Brickset. You can see the mechanism starting page 50 in the 2nd volume. It's pretty simple but that technique could be put to some other use. Maybe evil, I don't know. Other people in the local clubs have said they too like to either build the set for ideas or look over the instructions.

That's the whole collection of fancy gem or rock pieces. They go in the nefarious device. We can only hope that Doctor Rodney Rathbone and Jack McHammer can kick the count's ass and put a stop to his evil plan. They have tough odds, two against four, and those man bats are pretty fierce looking. I hope those guys are wearing pants.

Lord Vampyre doesn't have much of a name, which is sad. And even sadder? That pretty lady is called Lord Vampyre's Bride. I guess that's better than Mrs Vampyre. I do like the dress and the hair. Both of the vampyres have two faces. Doctor Rodney Rathbone has a steam poowered artifical leg and a nice boweler hat.

That's Jack McHammer, 1 of the 2 man bats and a old style skeleton. A good assortment of minifigs with good costumes.

Mostly a pretty good set for me. Nice bunch of parts that could come in handy. Not sure if I'll buy one. I'd certinly keep an eye out for it on sale or clearance. You never know what might turn up tomorrow.